LA Noire Review

LA Noire

May 2011, one of my favorite Xbox 360 games launched and you .guessed it… it was LA Noire. I was so happy with the announcement that it was releasing on Xbox One but after playing it, I hate to say that I’m slightly disappointed that they didn’t do a more decent remaster. That said, investigating the scene with Cole Phelps is still a massive entertaining thing to play, especially for people who have missed the original LA Noire! Let’s enter the crime scene and find all the clues in this LA Noire review!

I guess Cole and his partner never learned that keeping your hat on is impolite.

THE GOOD

Interrogations, the main reason why LA Noire is such a great game. It is simply a thing that no other game can give you, is a suspect or witness telling the truth? Can you find a way to spot a lie from your main suspect? Knowing when to believe or when to doubt someone is important, luckily the voice acting and animations help you with that.

Cole Phelps is a complex character that slow but surely develops throughout the game. Experiencing your past with cut scenes and evolving as a police officer is engaging and pretty different from the normal storytelling in the gaming scene.

The game is six years old and I can still say that LA Noire has the best facial animations in any game. The tech after this impressive facial expressions feature is called MotionScan and is absolutely fantastic! Conversations really look real and help you with findings liars or honest people, it is pretty funny that a six-year-old game is a fine example how many of the issues from Mass Effect: Andromeda could have been solved.

Voice work is outstanding from main and side-characters, giving a believable performance. Together with great facial expressions and story it really manages to capture your full attention.

With numerous awards in 2011 the soundtrack from LA Noire was really something special, even today the jazzy and orchestral music is an eargasm for the ears. It creates an atmosphere that totally works with the gameplay and story.

I really recommend playing this game in the black and white mode, it gives a much more realistic feeling while playing and it just looks more real too. You aren’t forced to use this option (it is actually a little hidden in the option menu) but check it out, you won’t regret it!

I have been telling Cole for hours now, your face will not tan enough while standing that way.

MIXED FEELINGS

The game looks better than before, lighting is improved, draw distance is better and the textures looks really sharp on Xbox One X but I expected a little bit more effort in this remaster. LA Noire is six years old, and despite the improvements, you notice that immediately with the low detail environments.

LA Noire takes place in Los Angeles around 1950, while the game world has some really photorealistic visuals and a few collectibles it looks empty and artificial too. The slower-paced approach and the fact that you are a police officer makes the game limited too, you have a few side-missions for stopping a bank robbery or other typical police tasks but they don’t really feel genuine.

Sometimes connecting the dots and choosing the right answer is harder than it should be. I’m pretty sure that even famous detectives like Sherlock or Colombo won’t even know what to select.

You will wake up screaming at night if you knew what was behind that mirror.

THE BAD

Nothing really bad can be said about LA Noire. The only bad thing surrounding this game is the closure of the Australian developer Team Bondi. Seeing how great LA Noire is, I had so much confidence and anticipation for Whore of the Orient. Sadly, we won’t ever see something again from the Bondi guys.

[9.2/10] While I expected a little more from the remaster I’m still a huge fan for LA Noire. The voice acting, facial expressions, story and gameplay are incredible and should be enjoyed by all gamers.